Marvel’s tiniest hero! Now starring in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s smallest movie so far. Also its most run-of-the-mill movie so far.

This was bound to happen eventually. There are only so many ways you can take a guy — always a guy! — who’s a little bit messed up but basically a decent fellow who just needs a little redemption to set him on the right road, expose him to a little magical mad science, give him a special suit to run around in, and set him loose on the bad guys.

The gradual reveal of Channing Tatum as a box office magnet and sorely underestimated movie star was staggered over the first half of 2012. The Vow and 21 Jump Street were both hits that showed off opposite sides of his range, but his two collaborations with Steven Soderbergh set him on his current path.

Long renowned as an actor's director, Soderbergh cast Tatum in a minor role in Haywire, which is how he came to be attached to Magic Mike, a semi-biographical project based on the actor's experiences as a stripper in Tampa, Florida. The latter was a sleeper hit that assured Tatum's status as an A-lister, but a sequel hardly felt inevitable.

"I didn't want to move or act like a rich man. I wanted to dance in a pair of jeans. I wanted to dance like the man in the streets." – Gene Kelly

It's hard to imagine — let alone remember — living in a world where it wasn't a universally acknowledged truth that Channing Tatum used to be a stripper. Today, that particular chapter of his origin story seems as inextricable from the 35-year-old actor's story as Ginger Rogers is from Fred Astaire's career, or Scientology is from that of Tom Cruise,
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These words are uttered by Kenneth (Ewan McGregor) to freelance operative Paul (Michael Fassbender) in a scene somewhere toward the end of Steven Soderbergh’s truly excellent but much ignored action movie Haywire. The woman they are referring to is Mallory Kane (Gina Carano) and the reason they are trying to divorce themselves from the notion of her femininity is she is far too dangerous to underestimate. Interestingly, this line also has another meaning; that dwelling at the heart of the film is an argument for gender equality, not only in the world of the film but action movies in general. Critically praised but snubbed by audiences, could the failure of Haywire’s attempt to cement Gina Carano as a bona fide action star be blamed on Hollywood’s oversaturation of familiar tent pole franchises,
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With the film’s R rating now set in stone, the Deadpool updates are beginning to arrive thick and fast.

Production is now in full swing on the movie’s Vancouver set, and a string of photos have emerged that showcase Morena Baccarin, Haywire‘s Gina Carano and star Ryan Reynolds in costume as Wade Wilson. As this is very much acting as an origin from 20th Century Fox, the stills reveal a badly scarred Reynolds, who is likely filming the formative events that transformed Wilson from Special Forces agent into the beloved and unconventional Merc with a Mouth.

Kicking the fragments of lore established through X-Men Origins: Wolverine to the kerb, next year’s Deadpool will offer up an entirely new take on the Marvel comic book character. Judging from the red and black guise that Reynolds debuted last week, the tone and balls-to-the-wall nature isn’t the only
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Whether it’s the excellent test footage from last year or the rather intimate unveiling of Ryan Reynolds in costume as the titular daredevil, the marketing campaign for 20th Century Fox’s standalone Deadpool movie has been absolutely bang on the money, filling fans with cautious optimism for the final product in 2016.

One concern that had been hanging over the production, though, was the film’s rating, with many calling for the adaptation to remain true to its roots — and indeed that aforementioned test footage — and serve up an interpretation of Wade Wilson free from compromise of the dreaded PG-13 classification. Thankfully, that wish has come true, after Ryan Reynolds confirmed that Deadpool will indeed be rated R when it hits theaters next year.

Announcing the news in typical, hilarious fashion, the clip above sees Reynolds interviewed by Saved by the Bell alum Mario Lopez about the supposed decision to
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For Deadpool’s standalone film, the filmmakers are pushing the cargo pants aside. There's a brand new look for Deadpool, and you can almost hear Reynolds's character whispering, “Draw me like one of your French girls.”

On top of this morning’s exciting (and eerily saucy) reveal of Ryan Reynolds in costume as Deadpool, 20th Century Fox has kickstarted what appears to be the beginning of the marketing campaign for the film, which includes the launch of the movie’s official Twitter account and website, along with the first logo and synopsis.

The logo itself is pretty straightforward, and what we’ve come to expect from a comic book adaptation. The synopsis is the real gem here, as it gives us the overall story for the film and confirms that the Merc with a Mouth will indeed have his trademark sense of dark humor when he finally gets the solo outing we’ve been waiting for:

Based upon Marvel Comics’ most unconventional anti-hero, Deadpool tells the origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson, who after being subjected to a rogue experiment that
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For the film, Reynolds will play the part of Wade Wilson, Marvel’s idiosyncratic anti-hero that earns his title as the Merc with a Mouth for his quirky one-liners and devastating physical abilities. The project has flirted with development for some time, particularly after the actor’s cameo in the otherwise poor X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but it was the tidal wave of support that rose to the fore following the release of last year’s excellent test footage.
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Ryan Reynolds’ performance as fast-talkin’ Wade Wilson in the lacklustre X-Men Origins: Wolverine is arguably the film’s highlight. Across his entirely-too-short screentime, Reynolds catapults between the quippy ‘merc with a mouth’ Wilson to the Project X-powered Deadpool. He’s an absolute riot to watch, and hordes of Deadpool fans went public with that same opinion. So much so that the leaked footage from a canceled Deadpool spinoff movie incited such tremendous fan support that it eventually received the greenlight from Fox.

Speaking out in an interview with Shortlist, Reynolds addressed the status of the movie and how fan approval is one of the driving factors behind production:

“I’m incredibly happy about it — we’ve got a director that understands that world and writers with a slavish devotion to the canon of that character. That’s the most important aspect: it’s made in a way the most critical of fanboys could embrace.
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When it was announced that Jon Stewart would be leaving The Daily Show, the Internet responded in turn by nominating some viable candidates (you can read our list here). At the top of most packs was Jessica Williams, the 25-year-old black comic who has been the show’s most surprising correspondent addition in years and has proved herself to be acerbic and hilarious when talking about issues related to feminism, Beyonce, or black hair.

Williams however, despite being very humbled, tweeted that she was “under qualified” for the position, presumably with the idea that she’s only 25 and has a whole career ahead of her to do whatever she wants.
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News comes via Deadline, who report that the pair will star opposite Bruce Willis in the actioner. According to the outlet, Lutz will assume the role of Harry Turner, a rookie agent yet to cut his teeth in the agency. With his father (Willis) missing, Turner flies in the face of direct orders and sets out on a mission to find him, but this soon leads to a manhunt spearheaded by Carano’s steely field operative, Victoria. And given the actress’ ass-kicking reputation accrued from her time spent in Mma, we don’t envy Turner’s plight.

Welcome to a special edition of our news round-up, this time focusing on three comic book adaptations. The female lead in the Deadpool movie has been cast, the voice actors for Star-Lord/Peter Quill, Drax, Groot, and Rocket have been revealed for Disney Xd's Guardians of the Galaxy animated series (and fans of Boy Meets World and Batman Beyond should be very pleased with the Quill casting), and it's been announced that a Dreadstar TV series is in the works with the creator of the comic book series, Jim Starlin, executive producing and writing the project.

THR had no clarification on exactly who Baccarin will portray, but simply described her as a love interest for Ryan Reynolds’ scarred assassin. The Merc with a Mouth – as he’s affectionately referred to – will be joined on his first standalone flick by a strong, supporting cast. Alongside Baccarin, we’ll see Silicon Valley’s T.J. Miller in the comedy sidekick role, Game Of Thrones‘ Ed Skrein as the film’s villain, and Haywire‘s Gina Carano as a member of the Morlocks, Angel Dust.

Assassin's Creed: Marion Cotillard, nominated for an Academy Award for the French-language drama Two Days, One Night, will star in Assassin's Creed opposite Michael Fassbender. The two previously teamed in a new version of Macbeth, which is due in theaters later this year. It's not clear which role Cotillard will play in the big-budget action picture, which is envisioned as a franchise tentpole. Look for it in theaters on December 21, 2016. [Deadline]
Deadpool: Gina Carano (Haywire) will join Deadpool opposite Ryan Reynolds. She will play a Marvel character known as Angel Dust; in the comics, she was "part of an underground mutant group known as the Morlocks." Also, another Marvel character, Colossus, has been confirmed to appear in the movie...

You have to love the way this film has finally been given the green light and given the nature of what’s the come, it’s a bloody good decision from Fox. We already know that Deadpool is happening after that footage leaked and fans went rightfully crazy for what they saw, it’s also an interesting time for Ryan Reynolds career after securing a dark hit with The Voices.

It’s now been announced that my favourite Gina Carano has been added to the cast and I, for one, think it’s a blinding casting decision. Once an Mma Fighter and now an actress, Carano excelled both in Haywire and Fast & Furious 6 and by adding her to what we’re hoping to expect, it’s a very clever choice.

On a side note, it’s also been said that mutant Colossus will play some part but which actor hasn’t been confirmed yet.
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Get ready, folks. The evolution of film distribution continues to move forward. While theaters have distributors have tried to stall the process, the move towards digital distribution of films continues to inch forward. Netflix all ready showed the world that it was willing to change the way we watch TV, offering up a small slate of series that stream directly from the service all at once for binge-watching consumption, they're now moving onto films.

At last year's Berlin Film Festival, they acquired the rights to Jadotville. The war thriller will star Fifty Shades of Grey actor Jamie Dornan, and Tell No Lies actor Guillaume Canet. Now the rest of the pieces are coming together and the film is set to go into production for a 2016 premiere, exclusively on Netflix.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

A gripping true story of incredible bravery against impossible odds, the film thrillingly depicts
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A gripping true story of incredible bravery against impossible odds, the film thrillingly depicts the 1961 siege of a 150-strong Irish Un battalion under Commander Patrick Quinlan (Jamie Dornan) by 3,000 Congolese troops led by French and Belgian mercenaries working for mining companies. Guillaume Canet plays a French commander who sought to defeat Quinlan and his men.

The film is slated to go into production in April, shooting in Ireland and South Africa. The project was brought to the European Film Market at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival by Alex Walton’s Bloom; the deal with Netflix was negotiated by UTA Independent Film Group.

Netflix acquired all rights to “Jadotville” and will debut the film on its Internet subscription VOD services. In addition, the company may also release the film theatrically for a qualifying run.

“Jadotville” tells the true story of the 1961 siege of a 150-member Irish U.N. battalion under Commander Patrick Quinlan (Dornan) by 3,000 Congolese troops, led by French and Belgian mercenaries working for mining companies. Film also stars Guillaume Canet (“Tell No One”) as the French commander who sought to defeat Quinlan and his men.

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